Monday Madness—Now What?

 

This is an old picture, but the weight is the same.

I’m sitting here, wondering what I should write about, and the only thing that comes to mind is—food. I’m hungry, but what I want—bacon, eggs, hash browns, ect.—isn’t on my list of what I can eat. You see, I’ve put myself on a diet—again.

 

Yes, I was a skater girl

 

 

 

 

I’m over weight—there, I’ve said it.  I stepped on the scale yesterday and started to cry. Never again will I be that athletic girl who could eat anything she wanted and not gain an ounce.

 

SOOOOO, here’s my madness. As a writer, I sit on my butt for hours at a time, shoving whatever is easiest to make for a meal into my mouth. I need advice. I need easy, quick meals that travel well and won’t give me that just-gave-birth look that I’m currently experiencing.

Any suggestions?

Monday Madness—Taking Care of You!

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but this is some crazy weather we’re having here in Texas. Freezing one day, pool worthy weather the next, then it’s back to freezing. What does this have to do with writing? Where do I start?

As I move forward in my life as a published author, and no matter what the day may bring, there’s one constant. If I’m not healthy, I can’t function. This is true in any profession. So forgive me if I climb up on my soapbox and preach the word according to Jeanne.

 

If you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know I’ve had a lot going on in my life lately; most important is the birth of my 10^th grandbaby, Isabelle. What you may not know is that she’s living in my house so I get to see her every day. Here’s where my health comes into issue. I wasn’t current on all my shots. So, like a good Mimi (You should already know I’m too young to be called grandma) I went and got a booster. If you haven’t guessed, it made me sick. I’ve gone 4 days without holding my little Peanut and I’m in withdrawal.

Call it boredom from being in bed most of the weekend, but I had a lot of time to think about my body and what I’ve been doing to it throughout my 38 years. (again, if you know me, you know that I’ve been 38 for years now)
So, I’ve challenged myself, and I’m challenging you as well, to take care of you.

 
 
 

 

 

I’ve covered my mind-set by re-vamping my office. (It’s done by the way and lacking distractions once again. Or at least I hope so. Wish me luck.)

 

 



Next is taking care of my health. I already have a chiropractor that I see once a month. The Doc has kept me together for going on 7 years and I can’t thank him enough. Whatever your profession demands of you, I recommend getting an adjustment.

You’ll thank me for it in the end.

I also recommend getting a yearly physical. Don’t be afraid of what the test results say. It’s better to know in advance what ails you and what you need to do to correct it. Eat right. Snack healthy. Exercise regularly. Most important, take care of YOU!

 

 

 

 

Okay, I’m climbing down again. I’m off to get a little writing done before heading out to get my Mammies Grammed. What are you going to do today?

Monday Madness—Creating Your Space—part one

Do you have a special place where you can go? A place where you can dream without the world invading? A place where no one else is allowed except for the imaginary people that come to you in dreams or through the pages of a book?

 

Well, I have that place, or at least I thought I did until I took everyone’s advice and just sat down to write. You see, I had too many distractions in MY SPACE. My cat, the household bills sitting on my desk, the clutter tossed into my office when someone didn’t know where to put it. Just look at these before pictures and you’ll understand what I mean when I say there were too many distractions.

My desk



Another shot of my desk



Research (Can you see the books?)



My Reading Area

 

Now, I’ve been listening to Jeanne Adams workshop “Creating your Write Environment” and what she has to say helped me tremendously. I’m not done, far from it, but I’ve gotten a good start as you can see by my new reading area. (Yes, the cat is still there, but this is her room too)

But stay tuned, I’ll be bringing you along as I transform MY SPACE into a place where my imagination can run wild and free. Who knows. My idea to keep me focused may not work and I'll have to try something different.

 

 

 

So, where is your special place? Do you have one?

Monday Madness—Did you miss me?

Did you even notice I wasn’t here last week? Well, let me share the madness. On April 11^th, my 10^th (that’s right. I said 10^th) grandbaby was born. Isabelle Elena Montoya graced my world and I can’t seem to get enough of her. She’s beautiful, but don’t take my word for it, just look at that face.

 

 

I spent the evening with her and when mommy and daddy had enough of visitors, I took my granddaughter Blakelynn home and tucked her into bed. The next day was filled with dropping Blake off at school, work, back to the hospital to hold my adorable peanut, then my husband and I took off for a well deserved weekend away.

 

 

 

That’s right, we jumped into our home away from home and headed to the Texas Motor Speedway. Dale Jr. and Brian Vickers, you are both loved!

 

 

Sunday brought me home as well as my beautiful daughter and my precious Peanut and my week has been filled with trying to take care of them both, my house, work, my husband, the dogs, and get a little writing done. I’ve gotten to everything but the writing. I can’t seem to get back into the mood.

 

 

How do you do it? Get into the mood? Telling myself to sit down and write hasn’t worked. So, when there’s something you have to do, how do you make yourself take that first step?

Monday Madness—My Kind Of Camping

Monday Madness—My Kind Of Camping

Let me set the scene. The wind is blowing through the new leaves of the small forest of trees.

The tinkling of a small brook can be heard as its water slowly makes its way toward the lake.

There’s a crispness to the air that demands the crackling of an outdoor fire.

Let me add a little more.

  Earlier in the afternoon, my husband and I stopped by Eagle Boat/RV storage (shameless plug for my storage company, www.eagleboatandrv.com) 

We picked up our 43 foot American Eagle Motor Coach and headed to Loyd Park in Grand Prairie Texas. I know some of you are saying, that’s not much of a weekend getaway, or, that’s not camping.

Camping is tents, sleeping bags, and peeing behind a tree. I DON'T THINK SO! let me tell you—my kind of camping includes running water, a king sized bed, shower, two bathrooms, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator/freezer, and 3 TV’s (one outside) Trust me, there’s no better way to relax than in your own home-away-from-home.

I still have the beauty of Spring in Texas without natures critters crawling into my bed,

the opportunity to make new friends,

and sitting outside by the fire, drinking an ice cold margarita with my husband is the perfect getaway for me.

How about you? What is your favorite getaway?

Monday Madness—What do you expect? Or, MY-OH-MY, Photo Op!

Okay people, here’s where my madness runs away with me. I spent an entire weekend at the Dreamin’ in Dallas conference trying to get some words of wisdom from the multitude of authors in attendance and what do I end up doing? Exactly that. So much so that my head is swimming with so many ideas and new directions that I don’t know where to start. The only picture that keeps running through my head is—how awesome did Jimmy Thomas really smell, and how good it felt being in his arms with his head resting on mine.

Yes, I know I’m married, but it’s Jimmy Thomas, Male Model Extraordinaire. Who wouldn’t have him on the brain after meeting him in person?Just look at that smile.

Has this ever happen to you? You were so set on learning and what you came away with was a crush? Who was it? And how long before that warm and fuzzy feeling left you alone long enough to function again?

Monday Madness-A Bout with ADD

Has this ever happened with you? You make a plan to do something then get sidetracked and start to do something else, then get sidetracked with something else? And I've got this CD about creating your "Write" environment here I need to listen to. I've had it over a week and...

What was I saying? Oh, that’s right. I was talking about getting sidetracked. I went into my closet this weekend to organize it, thinking it’s time to put my winter clothes to the back and while I was in there, I thought, Hey, I’m going to have room in here for my file boxes that are in my office, so I went into my office to get my boxes and thought, man, my office is a mess. I really need to clean this up, make room for me to work without all the clutter, so I started cleaning my office and came across a coffee mug (I collect them) and thought, I need to get the cabinets in my kitchen cleaned out so I can fit this coffee cup in there, so I went into the kitchen to start removing the clutter there and saw my iPad sitting on the counter and remembered that I had to check one of my games before time had run out. Seeing the cup in my hand, I made myself a cup of tea and sat down to play my game.

Long story short, my closet is even more disorganized than before, my office is twice as cluttered as it had been, I have too many cups in my cabinet, does anyone else want a cup of tea?

Tea cup, or some would call it a coffee mug. I’ve got one here with my Dragon Hunter logo on it. Share your ADD moment and it’s yours!

By the way, the winner for the T-shirt is Dawn Colclasure!